Home Ministry: No need for reward on Jho Low info as Interpol already has Red Notice out

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — A reward for information leading to the arrest of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho and his associates over the 1MDB scandal was unnecessary, the Home Ministry said today.

In a parliamentary reply, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the existing Red Notice from Interpol was superior for this purpose since it utilised a more precise element of cooperation and intelligence of the international law enforcement community.

“This mechanism requires any of the 195 member nations who have information in relation to Jho Low to fulfil its responsibility of channelling said information to Malaysia to enable extradition measures to be made,” he said in the reply to Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng.

Lim had asked Hamzah to state why the government is not offering a reward to anyone with updated information on the whereabouts of Low and his cohorts who are wanted by the police here.

Lim had also asked Hamzah to disclose whether the police had contacted journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope on their reports on Low recently, who is claimed to have been seen in China and Hong Kong.

However, Hamzah did not respond to Lim’s question.

Instead, he noted that all information received in regards to Low’s whereabouts overseas would be thoroughly scrutinised by the authorities for its authenticity using cooperative channels between local enforcement agencies based on existing diplomatic relations with the said country.

A Red Notice is a request by a member country to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition and it will only be issued if there was a valid national arrest warrant.

Separately, Hamzah also said various measures have been taken to trace and arrest Low, which included liaising with the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) in the United States and other enforcement agencies overseas.

“The ministry through the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has never stopped and remains committed in its effort to track and extradite Low to Malaysia to face charges.

“Various efforts have been taken including the obtaining of an Interpol Red Notice since 2018.

“Any parties with information on Low’s whereabouts can channel them to any nearby police station or through the Commercial Crime Investigation Department Infoline at 013-2111222,” Hamzah added.

Attention on Low was reignited after former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak began serving his 12-year prison sentence for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International in August.

Low has been described as the mastermind behind the 1MDB global corruption scandal and faces 13 charges in absentia here.

After Najib’s imprisonment, Billion Dollar Whale authors and former The Wall Street Journal journalists Wright and Hope revealed that they have launched a project to locate Low, the subject of their book.

In September, Wright and Hope had released a photograph that allegedly depicted Low in Shanghai Disneyland taken in 2019 and a copy of an application form for a posh yacht club membership, purportedly signed by his wife.